ken88

If anyone is interested, there is a special documentary on China, on ABC tonight (Wednesday, July 6, 2008), at 10:00 PM ET

A couple of suggestions ItalkBB. 1) I forward the phone after 3 rings to my cell number. This way no matter where I am my wife can reach me. 2) ItalkBB has 3 way calling, so no need to wrap the phones, just conference the third person in. What is ItalkBB ? Ken88

Richard: You are really lucky that you have wife with a BA in English ! What more can you ask for in communications? Ken88

Did she know how to use a computer, pinyin, etc ? ken88

Not many hardships, only I not there Daily I use www.ecallchina.com to call her, $20 usually last 1-2 months We use ibbtalk at home and skype, with a cam corder on each end. email for quick messages. She doesn't buy phone cards much any more, she'll just ask me to call her with a email. When you met her, did she know English (speaking and writing or typing, pinyin, computer skills, etc. ) ? ken88

Some of you raised the concern about the inflation during the last 30-40 years. Let us say that it is about 5-10 times depending upon what criteria you use. That would make the 36 billion to about 200-400 billion. If we want to be strict about it, we also will have to consider the value of one billion US dollars in the US and 1 billion US dollars in China. Actually $1.00 in the US is worthless. But it is very valuable in China. Let us say NASA hired engineers paying about $100,000/year (including health insurance, vacation pay, sick pay, pension etc). In China, engineers of similar qualifications are hired at $10,000/year. A factory worker or a construction worker in the US is paid about $50,000 per year. In China, similar workers are paid about $3,000/year. Let us say that we did exactly the same thing that China did in Beijing for the Olympics, we would be spending not just 40 billion, but something like 400 -500 billion. To get the exact numbers, however, we will have to hire about a dozen CPA's and work for a year. Ken88

None of the above. No vomiting, no blood, no diarrhea and no fever. In gastric and intestinal bleeding, there would be black stool. She did not say anything about that either (She said she did not know. She did not pay attention) My gut feeling is that she ate something bad and she had a tummy ache ! She tells me that there no govt hospitals. There may be some small clinics. But all big hospitals are private. ken88 Ken, Don't know if you have a medical background or not so excuse me if I'm telling you stuff you already know. The black stools of GI bleeding are pretty hard to miss. They are loose but "tarry" and stick to anything. They also have a distinctive odor that one never forgets and can't be mistaken for normal. I would push to get them to tell you what her Hemoglobin is. If there is more than one done that would be great. If her Hemoglobin is normal and stable, I'd feel a lot more comfortable suggesting she leave. It would be doubtful there would be any significant bleeding. If there is a doctor there who speaks English and you want me to try to get some info from them, let me know. Of course, if you are a medical professional you may have already tried that. I hope that things straighten out and that your wife is well but I have heard of the hospitals there running this kind of thing for money. Joe Thanks Joe. I am also in the medical field. But I can definitely use a second and a third opinion in this case, especially when we are making a diagnosis without seeing the patient and without knowing enough about the symptoms. I do not know if you talked to chinese doctors. I talked to several, not in this connection though. There are two barriers in communication with them. One is the Chinese-English language barrier. Secondly, there is medical barrier. They are taught a mixture of Chinese and Western medicines. As I heard it, they only spent about 25% of their time in medical schools learning western medicine. For example, the majority of them do not know about diabetes, insulin or blood glucose levels. Only a small % of diabetics who need insulin get it. Anyway, I hope they do the Hgb. She was told that she would die on July 23, if she did not have an operation on July 22. That did not happen. I can not think of any reason why one should have an operation in one days notcie for a stomach pain. Can you? Peptic ulcer or some bleeding tumor would be a slow disease. None of these would require an overnight surgery ! I will just wait it out for 2 days. Your comments would be appreciated. Ken88

Good idea Dave. I already did that! Thanks. Ken88

None of the above. No vomiting, no blood, no diarrhea and no fever. In gastric and intestinal bleeding, there would be black stool. She did not say anything about that either (She said she did not know. She did not pay attention) My gut feeling is that she ate something bad and she had a tummy ache ! She tells me that there no govt hospitals. There may be some small clinics. But all big hospitals are private. ken88 I would try to convince her to leave and go home, though this may be next to impossible to do since you are not there in person. Does she still have pain and has she shown anything that indicates she is in danger of dieing or getting real ill real fast? I asked her several times to go home. She is a very traditional and compliant individual. She is hesitant to leave the hospital without the blessings from the hospital staff. More over she is brain washed; she truely believes that she will die if she leaves. Ken88

The "she will die" thing is a gigantic red flag. http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...st&p=411643 Orrin's case can be put in the same category. His hopital also used similar, " You better listern to us or you will die" tactic. Thanks Ken88

How did your communication with your wife/gf in China evolve during the first and second year of your relationship ? What gadgets, what methods, what language, what time? What were the hardship? How did you overcome them? etc.

China has spend about 40 billion USD to prepare for the Olympics ! US spent about 36 billion to go to the moon ! Besides going to the moon, US had tremendous scientific and technological achievements in the process of carrying out that task. Electronics and computer technology, rocket science, aviation, communications, etc. etc. progressed beyond belief, because of our landing on the moon! China achieved or hope to achieve significant progress in transportation, architecture, communications, regional and national security, pollution control, envirnmental protection, better infra-structure, and most of all good will around the world, etc. by these Olympic games. Two days ago they reported that Beijing saw a blue sky for the first time in many years ! We wish China the best ! ! Ken88

None of the above. No vomiting, no blood, no diarrhea and no fever. In gastric and intestinal bleeding, there would be black stool. She did not say anything about that either (She said she did not know. She did not pay attention) My gut feeling is that she ate something bad and she had a tummy ache ! She tells me that there no govt hospitals. There may be some small clinics. But all big hospitals are private. ken88

Don't worry about it unless you have one. Either leave it blank or say none. kEN88

Tom: First of all, money speaks louder than voice in China secondly, Did you take the teachers to Dinner and Lunch? Thirdly, It has somethig to do with your wife's ID book (Hokou ?) which may have to be changed to the new city or province. And lastly, many children have to go to private schools for that very reason. Another possiblity is this: Let the boys continue their education in their previous school and stay with a relative or a friend, until you figure out what to do with them. Good Luck Ken88